The Dollywood butterfly is accustomed to soaring through the Smoky Mountains. This week, it’s taking a high-speed trip down the road to one of NASCAR country’s most famous tracks.

Dollywood will be prominently featured on Quinn Davis’ No. 85 Ford when the ARCA Menards Series East driver competes in Thursday’s Bush’s Best 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. But this isn’t simply another sponsorship decal on a race car.

For Davis, the connection to the Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, theme park goes back to childhood road trips.

A Childhood Love for Dollywood Comes Full Circle

Originally from Tucson, Arizona, Davis began traveling the country with her family when she was just 7 years old, their RV towing her quarter-midget race car from event to event. Each summer, the family made time for a stop in Pigeon Forge and Dollywood.

Those visits became part of the family’s racing travels — and eventually helped inspire Davis to approach Dollywood about becoming a sponsor.

“I still get emotional thinking about Dollywood coming on board,” Davis said. “I’ve gotten thousands of no’s and a handful of maybe’s, but Dollywood said yes—and that means more to me than I can put into words.”

That relationship comes full circle this week in East Tennessee.

Davis and City Garage Motorsports unveiled the special Dollywood-themed car at the park ahead of Thursday’s season finale. The Dollywood logo stretches across the rear quarter panels, while the car also carries a tribute to Dolly Parton.

Davis will take the theme beyond the race car with a special Dollywood-inspired firesuit. After the race, the suit will be auctioned, with proceeds benefiting Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

The unveiling also turned into something of a Dollywood day for Davis and the race team.

They experienced NightFlight Expedition, the $60 million attraction that opened in Wildwood Grove last month, before having lunch at Wilderness Pass Restaurant. Davis later met guests during an autograph session at Hi-Octane, the gift shop near Lightning Rod, where she signed limited-edition shirts featuring her race car.

From Dollywood to Bristol Motor Speedway

For theme park travelers, it’s an interesting crossover between two East Tennessee destinations that draw visitors from well beyond the region.

Dollywood sits in Pigeon Forge near Great Smoky Mountains National Park, while Bristol Motor Speedway is roughly two hours away in northeast Tennessee. For fans interested in both theme parks and motorsports, the partnership connects two very different reasons to plan a Tennessee road trip.

One More Race with Something Extra to Drive For

There’s also a competitive storyline heading into Bristol.

After a difficult beginning to the season, Davis posted consecutive 12th-place finishes at Toledo Speedway and Indianapolis Raceway Park before breaking through at Flat Rock Speedway in Michigan. Her fifth-place finish there made her just the sixth female driver to record a top-five finish in an ARCA East Series race.

She enters the final fifth in the season points standings.

Now she gets to close the season in Tennessee with the logo of the theme park she grew up visiting riding along.

“I want to make the entire Dollywood family proud, but I’d be lying if I said a huge part of my heart isn’t hoping to make Dolly proud, too,” Davis said. “This is an honor I’ll never take for granted.”

It isn’t the first time Dollywood has made an appearance at Bristol. The park was featured on Tyler Reddick’s Xfinity Series car during the spring 2019 race at the speedway, when Reddick finished second.

This time, however, the story feels particularly fitting.

A little girl once traveled the country chasing races with her family and looked forward to stopping at Dollywood along the way. Years later, she’ll race at Bristol with Dollywood’s butterfly on her car.

Sometimes the best road-trip memories have a way of coming back around.

The Bush’s Best 200 is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Bristol Motor Speedway and will be televised nationally on FS1 and available through the FOX Sports App.

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(Photos courtesy of Dollywood Parks & Resorts)